Where thoughts brew while the coffee percolates
Reading Time: 3 minutesPick up any recently published role-playing game (or sometimes even a modern supplement to any given rule system), and there is a good chance that there is a section communicating what a role-playing game is. This isn’t a bad practice. I like that fewer games … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 3 minutesWhen you state a painful truth like “in 5E, surprise rounds don’t exist,” you tend to draw a lot of attention to yourself. Some people will invoke Dudeism and say, “Yeah? Well, you know, that’s just like uh, your opinion, man.” Some—usually those who are … [continue reading]
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFantasy could arguably be considered over-represented in tabletop roleplaying games. I think many people immediately think of Dungeons & Dragons whenever they hear fantasy. What I like about Symbaroum’s fantasy setting is how dark and gritty it is. This is not the high fantasy of D&D. … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 4 minutesI haven’t done a robust study, but my hunch is that magic items collections probably make up the bulk of all Dungeons & Dragons 5E third-party content. At least outside of adventures anyway. It makes sense actually. We play for the intrinsic fun, of course, … [continue reading]
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHorror is an easy genre to do poorly. It’s not unlike fantasy in that regard. But Free League Publishing made it work with the Nordic Horror Roleplaying game Vaesen. (Read a nice review of the game on The Yawning Portal.) The 19th-century Scandanavian setting is … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 2 minutesNow for Fantasy Grounds too! Trouble stirs in the normally quiet and bucolic lakeside town of Willow Grove. The residents here are jovial, hard-working, and superstitious. When the town’s cemetery caretaker makes a macabre discovery while tending to the gardens, he’s certain there is evil … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 3 minutesSome time ago, I was browsing ArtStation and stumbled across “Children of the deeps” (pictured) by Maxence Burgel. I couldn’t help but envision this gang of miscreants as the ubiquitous itty bitty shitty committee. Speaking for anyone but myself would be folly, but I know what … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 4 minutesAccording to pages 183-185 of the Player’s Handbook, darkvision means a creature with this trait can: “see in darkness as if the darkness were dim light, so areas of darkness are only lightly obscured as far as that creature is concerned. However, the creature can’t discern … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 4 minutesWailer’s Hold is abandoned. Or was. When I ran some Forbidden Lands RPG sessions earlier this year the players chose to journey towards Wailer’s Hold. Rather than let the abandoned site wallow in disepair and enshrouded in mystery, I decided an opportunistic entrepreneur would try … [continue reading]
Dark hooks. Twisted situations. Dirty little complications for your next session. Get Plot Thickeners—Crude & Distorted for 50% off at DMs Guild until I decide to make things worse again!
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